1
ENHANCING WOMEN’S ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL
PARTICIPATION, GLOBALLY AND IN THE ARAB WORLD
Brussels, December
2013
Gender equality has intrinsic value for development It belongs to the definition of development, as expanding
opportunity (Sen)
Development fuels gender: As development opens up opportunities, women seize them
Gender equality is an instrument of development: Societies where women are represented in politics and
institutions invest in goods that better reflect the preferences of men and women and achieve better policy outcomes
2
3 STATEMENTS ABOUT GENDER EQUALITY AND DEVELOPMENT (WDR 12)
For the nation: Tapping into the skills and talents of women, who make up half
the population, can increase productivity and expand the development potential of the nation
For the next generation: Women with education, who are economically empowered, and
can make decisions, invest more and better in their children “we gain knowledge and knowledge is light" “we read (get an education) and we teach our children in the future” --Young women, Kharef, Yemen
For society: Societies where women are represented in politics and
institutions invest in goods that better reflect the preferences of men and women and achieve better policy outcomes 3
GENDER EQUALITY IS AN INSTRUMENT OF DEVELOPMENT
In the last 30 years, 552 million joined the labor force and today, 4 out of 10 workers globally are women
... And yet, on average, for every dollar a man makes, a woman earns 80 cents
.. 73 cents in Brazil
. . 62 cents in Germany
.. 78 cents in Egypt
All but 6 countries have ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women …but only 19% of all parliamentarians in the world are women.
EQUAL?
Source: Women, Business and the Law 2014
FORMAL CONSTRAINTS ARE PERVASIVE
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
Most common restrictions for married women
Sub-Saharan Africa
South Asia
Middle East and North Africa
Latin America and Caribbean
High income: OECD
Europe and Central Asia
East Asia and Pacific
Agree that men should have priority over scarce jobs
0%20%40%60%80%
World
East Asia &Pacific
Europe &Central Asia
Latin America& Caribbean
Middle East &North Africa
South Asia
Female Male
USA Denmark
Japan
Mexico
Turkey
South Africa
Iran Iraq
Egypt
Malaysia Bangladesh
Pakistan
Mali
Rwanda El Salvador
Uganda
Burkina Faso
Azerbaijan China
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
1.2
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Ratio
, fem
ale
to m
ale
LFP
Agree: men should have more priority over scarce jobs
Relationship between perceived jobs equality and gaps in labor
force participation
Source: World Values Surveys data 91 countries
SOCIAL NORMS UNDERLIE DEPRIVATIONS AND CONSTRAINTS
-0.5
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
FEMALE LITERACY RATES (Annual percentage point
change: 1985-2010)
8
SINCE 1970, COUNTRIES IN THE MENA REGION HAVE RECORDED THE FASTEST PROGRESS IN
HUMAN DEVELOPMENT IN THE WORLD.
-0.5
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
Middle East & North Africa East Asia & Pacific
South Asia Latin America & Caribbean
Europe & Central Asia Sub-Saharan Africa
FEMALE LIFE EXPECTANCY RATIO OF FEMALE TO MALE PRIMARY ENROLMENT
(Average annual growth rates, %: 1985-2010)
Source: Staff calculations based on World Development Indicators, 2011.
9
PROGRESS IN EDUCATION HAS BEEN MADE ACROSS THE REGION
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
180
Female to Male Ratio of Enrolment Rates
Primary Secondary Tertiary
Source: World Development Indicators (2011)
10
BUT FEW WOMEN ARE REPRESENTED IN POLITICAL BODIES
0.00%
5.00%
10.00%
15.00%
20.00%
25.00%
30.00%
% Women in lower or single house
Source: International Parliamentary Union, Women in National Parliaments, as of 1/3/13.
0102030405060708090
100
Egypt Jordan Morocco Iraq WestBank and
Gaza
Yemen Djibouti SaudiArabia 1/
Qatar 1/ UAE 1/ Kuwait1/
LABOR FORCE PARTICIPATION (%)
Men Women
Source: National household Surveys; 1/ Official estimates for national non-immigrant population.
11
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
Pakistan Turkey MENA Muslimmajoritycountries
Malaysia Rest of theworld
Indonesia Bangladesh
12
RELIGION?
FEMALE LABOR FORCE PARTICIPATION (%)
Source: World Development Indicators (2011)
WBG LBN
JOR MAR
DJI
TUN SYR EGY
UAE OMN
BHR SAU
YEM
KWT*
QAT ALG
IRQ
0
20
40
60
80
100
0 20 40 60 80 100
FEM
ALE
LA
BOR
FORC
E PA
RTIC
IPAT
ION
(%
age
d 15
+), 2
009
FUEL EXPORTS (% of merchandise exports), 2009 or latest
Source: World Development Indicators, 2011; *includes non-nationals 13
OIL?
Gender norms are reflected in laws that implicitly or explicitly circumscribe women’s agency. These in turn can reinforce societal norms. Family codes may limit decision-making: head of household
laws, permission to work, selecting matrimonial residence, unilateral divorce laws etc. Low or no legal minimum Age of Marriage Laws for girls may
limit decision-making power within the household, with respect to education, work. Labor laws may limit opportunities: restrictions on industry
and hours worked; maternity leave and childcare; legislation that discourages or does not recognize part-time work.
14
FORMAL NORMS CONTINUE TO CONSTRAIN WOMEN’S MOBILITY AND DECISION MAKING
Source: Women, Business and the Law 2014
FORMAL CONSTRAINTS ARE PERVASIVE
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
Most common restrictions for married women
Sub-Saharan Africa
South Asia
Middle East and North Africa
Latin America and Caribbean
High income: OECD
Europe and Central Asia
East Asia and Pacific
Traditional gender norms further reinforce each other to restrict women’s mobility and choice
Limited employability for young people, especially women (tracking)
Queuing for public sector jobs Limited opportunities in the
private sector and for entrepreneurship (stereotypes, harassment, safety, control of assets)
16
MENA SPECIFIC CONSTRAINTS LIMIT FEMALE LABOR FORCE PARTICIPATION
“Boys move however they want, wherever they want” “They sit in the coffee shops, waiting…” After their studies, “they stay at home, go apply for companies, get depressed and say why did I waste my time..” “jobs here are only for those who have connections, whoever doesn’t have connections stays at home and doesn’t work.” Source: West Bank and Gaza and Yemen Qualitative Assessments, 2012
Agree that men should have priority over scarce jobs
0%20%40%60%80%
World
East Asia &Pacific
Europe &Central Asia
Latin America& Caribbean
Middle East &North Africa
South Asia
Female Male
USA Denmark
Japan
Mexico
Turkey
South Africa
Iran Iraq
Egypt
Malaysia Bangladesh
Pakistan
Mali
Rwanda El Salvador
Uganda
Burkina Faso
Azerbaijan China
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
1.2
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Ratio
, fem
ale
to m
ale
LFP
Agree: men should have more priority over scarce jobs
Relationship between perceived jobs equality and gaps in labor
force participation
Source: World Values Surveys data 91 countries
SOCIAL NORMS UNDERLIE DEPRIVATIONS AND CONSTRAINTS
SO CIAL NORMS HOWEVER ARE NOT DESTINY
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
LABOR FORCE PARTICIPATION OF FEMALE IMMIGRANTS FROM MENA TO
US (%)
Married
Single
0.00
0.05
0.10
0.15
0.20
0.25
0.30
0.35
United States France
MARITAL GAP IN FEMALE LABOR FORCE PARTICIPATION OF EMIGRANTS FROM
MENA (%)
Emigrated inAdulthood
Emigrated inChildhood
Born in Country
To the World Bank Group’s twin goals of ending extreme poverty and shared prosperity
Gender was a special theme in IDA16 and IDA17: Progress on gender mainstreaming in lending is tracked and reported 9 core indicators on gender mainstreaming monitored in IDA16 8 indicators monitored in the corporate scorecard (IDA and
IBRD)
All country strategies draw on findings from stand-alone or integrated gender assessments Country programs involve financing for gender-related lending
and analytical work
19
GENDER EQUALITY IS INTEGRAL TO THE WORLD BANK
Bolster job creation for all, led by the private sector
Enhancing women’s agency and legal reforms to put women on an equal footing
Bridge the remaining gender
gaps in health, education and basic services
Remove constraints to
participation and entry into the formal labor
market, especially in the private
sector
Nurture female-owned and managed
businesses through
expanded access to finance and business skills
20
PRIORITIES IN MENA
Evidence-based policy making through experiments, pilots, and greater public access to gender-disaggregated data
ANALYTICAL WORK 1. Regional report:
“Opening Doors: Gender Equality in the Middle East and North Africa”
2. Palestine: “Aspirations on Hold? Young Lives in the West Bank and Gaza”
21
SOME EXAMPLES OF WHAT WE ARE DOING
1400 young female community college graduates participated in a pilot: 3 week soft skills and employability skills training Short term incentive for firms to hire young women (6 month
job voucher)
Objective: To increase labor force participation and employability of female graduates
Short term: job vouchers induced a 39% rise in female employment.
Long term: the majority of the jobs did not translate into permanent employment, but labor force participation was higher by 10 percentage points.
22
JORDAN NEW WORK OPPORTUNITIES FOR WOMEN (NOW) PILOT:
LEARNING WHAT WORKS
Gender Equality and Development (World Development Report 2012) Opening Doors: Gender Equality and
Development in the Middle East and North Africa
Available (as well as may other resources) at http://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/gender
24
READ
IS THIS A CASE OF THE TORTOISE AND THE HARE?
Vouchers helped women find jobs quicker than they otherwise would have In the end, the
control group caught up to the voucher group in terms of employment
WHY DIDN’T THE HARE WIN?
After the vouchers expired…
Still working at same firm, 23
Quit and found another job, 16
Quit due to marriage or child
birth, 8 Fired, 8
Unaffordable without
subsidy, 39
Other, 6
FIRMS DO NOT FIND IT WORTHWHILE TO FORMALIZE EMPLOYMENT OR TO PAY
MINIMUM WAGES.. Had firms registered these workers as formally
employed, employers would have to pay social security taxes and payroll taxes , adding 20 percent to the cost of employing a worker an unaffordable financial burden?
Where the minimum wage was not made a pre-condition for employment (for the training and control groups), more than 25% of those employed earned less than 150JD throughout our entire pilot
And the overwhelming reason that firms terminated employment after the vouchers ended was that the employees were “unaffordable without the subsidy”
29
INFORMING POLICY AND SUPPORTING THE TRANSITION IN YEMEN
Establish peace and security; reconstruction and humanitarian assistance
Establish a legal minimum age of
marriage for girls; and birth and marriage
registration
Girls schools and female teachers,
especially in rural areas +
Expanding % of attended births
Create conditions for diversified economic growth and private
sector led job creation
Microfinance to SMEs and home-based
businesses run by women
New policy note highlights stark gender disparities and priority areas for action
National Dialogue considering a minimum age of marriage and a quota for women in political bodies Supporting the implementation of the recommendations
of the National Dialogue
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50
AlgeriaBahrain
Egypt, Arab Rep.Iran, Islamic Rep.
JordanKuwait
LebanonMorocco
QatarSaudi Arabia
Syrian Arab RepublicTunisia
United Arab EmiratesWest Bank and Gaza
Unemployment, youth male Unemployment, youth female
YOUTH UNEMPLOYMENT RATES (%)
Source: World Development Indicators (2011) 30
0102030405060708090
Women Men Women Men Women Men
Jordan Egypt West Bank and Gaza
Illiterate Primary Secondary Post-Secondary
31
AND WOMEN STAY UNEMPLOYED LONGER, ESPECIALLY MORE EDUCATED WOMEN
% OF UNEMPLOYED WOMEN AND MEN WHO HAVE BEEN UNEMPLOYED FOR MORE THAN ONE YEAR
Source: National household surveys
2010
2006 2009
11
43 44
58
37
24 26
82 78
45
76
63
8
58
34 32 27
20 19
84 87
29
80
40
0102030405060708090
100
Morocco Djibouti Jordan Iraq Egypt WestBank
Yemen Qatar 1/ UnitedArab
Emirates1/
Bahrain1/
Kuwait 1/ Oman 1/
Women Men
32
PUBLIC SECTOR EMPLOYMENT IS A DOMINANT SOURCE OF EMPLOYMENT, ESPECIALLY FOR
WOMEN SHARE OF EMPLOYED WORKERS IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR (%)
Latent participation: When Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Education opened up a new batch of positions in 2011, applications from women were 4 to 5 times the number of vacancies
Source: National household Surveys; 1/ Official estimates for national non-immigrant population.
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
West Bank andGaza
Iraq Egypt Yemen
PUBLIC SECTOR WAGE GAP (Difference in Average Hourly Earnings in the Public and Private Sectors, %)
Males
Females
2009
33
IN MANY COUNTRIES, THE PUBLIC SECTOR ALSO PAYS BETTER, ESPECIALLY FOR WOMEN
Source: National household Surveys
2006
2006 2005
Educational segregation influences occupational segregation
Skills mismatches
Gender stereotypes of employers and misperceptions about the private sector
Limited access to networks and lack of labor market information
34
EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES IN THE PRIVATE SECTOR ARE LIMITED, ESPECIALLY
FOR WOMEN
Only 15% of businesses in the region are owned by women. Out of 12789 households in rural
villages in the governorate of Menya in Egypt, there were only 200 female business owners. That's less than 2%! Only 14% of these female business
owners currently have loans
In many countries, female owned firms hire more women than male owned firms. Thus, constraints to female entrepreneurship can also potentially l imit opportunities for female employment 35
FEW OPPORTUNITIES FOR ENTREPRENEURS, OR THE SKILLS TO SET UP AND RUN A
BUSINESS
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
Female owned Male owned
SHARE OF FEMALE WORKERS BY GENDER OF OWNER (%)
Source: World Bank, Investment Climate Surveys
36
THE TIME FOR REFORM IS NOW
If all those in the working age population look for work, the number of jobs needed in MENA will increase exponentially—200 million jobs by 2050, three-quarters of them for women
MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA
Source: United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division, Population Estimates and Projections Section, 2010-2050, World Development Indicators, 2011.